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Blast Rocks Baghdad Marketplace; Accounts on Casualties Differ

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Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a blast in Baghdad, Iraq, May 9, 2019.
Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a blast in Baghdad, Iraq, May 9, 2019.

A blast rocked Baghdad's northeastern Sadr City district on Thursday, but there were differing accounts on whether it caused any casualties.

Police Colonel Jamal Hameed told Reuters a parcel had been found on the side of the road near a market and detonated in a controlled explosion, hurting no one.

He said an earlier statement by the joint military-police Baghdad Operations Command mentioning a suicide bomb and several deaths had been released in error.

That statement had said a bomber detonated an explosive belt surrounded by security forces. Local media reported that at least eight people were killed. Reuters was unable to independently verify whether there were any casualties.

The blast hit days after the start of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset and tend to congregate in public places after breaking their fast.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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